Russia’s deputy foreign minister has warned Western countries of “enormous risks” if Ukraine is provided with F-16 fighter jets, Russian state media TASS reported Saturday.
The comments come after US President Joe Biden gave his backing for Ukrainian pilots to be trained to fly F-16s, reversing his previous position.
F-16s are considered high performance weapon systems with a range of 500 miles (860 kilometers), and would be an upgrade to the aircraft currently in Ukraine’s fleet.
Responding to the move, Alexander Grushko said that Western countries are still adhering to the escalation scenario.
Speaking further, he said it involves enormous risks and will be taken into account in all of Russia’s plans.
Earlier this week, the UK and the Netherlands were reportedly building an “international coalition” to help Ukraine procure F-16 fighter jets.